A Christmas Emerging
by Chris7221
Summary: The holidays are here and Team RWBY is going to celebrate it, even though they have no idea where to even start. A loose series of drabbles about their first Christmas on Earth. Latest: The big day
1. What is Christmas?

A series of loosely connected Christmas drabbles, because I don't really have the time or energy to do a fully cohesive fic this year. It's RWBY, it follows on from Emergence but it's set two months after the end.

This is definitely not as stringently written in terms of flow, characterization, or realism as my other fics. But hopefully it will be enjoyable nonetheless.

* * *

**A Christmas Emerging**

**1: What's Christmas, anyway?**

"Okay, team!" Ruby announced as they approached the cold exterior of their school. "Today, we find out what everyone's getting so excited about."

"Isn't it just a slightly different version of Yuletide?" Yang commented, but her remark went unheard.

"Really?" Weiss snapped. "You know, we could just look it up-"

"Not what it is is, what makes it special to people," Ruby countered.

"She's right, Weiss," Blake commented. "You can't get that from a book."

Yang mentioned, "Isn't it going to be a little weird if we start asking?"

"Well, it's not like our Christmases were very happy, considering we're orphans," Blake said coldly.

"Come on, we don't want to be late!" Ruby called, running toward the school. The bell had rang some time during their conversation, but she was the only one to notice it.

* * *

Ruby's first class in the morning was metalwork. She leaned against the lathe, flipping her workpiece between her fingers. Eventually, it would be a candle holder, but right now, it was just a short cylinder of aluminum.

"What's so good about Christmas?" she mused idly.

"You get free shit," Jeff answered, stopping beside her. He was a year older than her, and not very good academically, but probably the best in the class when it came to building things. They were sort-of friends, though Ruby tended to use a more liberal definition.

That answer was disappointing, to say the least. "That's it?"

"Well, that's what I like about it," he replied. "Some people like it because of the holiday break, some because of family and friends and all that shit, and then there's the religious people."

"Oh, okay." Ruby sensed that she wasn't going to get a good answer from him.

"I guess it wasn't too happy for you, was it?" he remarked before realizing he said it out loud. "Sorry. Are you going to use that lathe, or-"

"Yeah, yeah," Ruby replied. She turned back to the machine and started fitting the cylinder into the chuck.

* * *

Weiss didn't see the point in asking, but she knew that Ruby wouldn't be happy if she didn't. So immediately after Social Studies, she asked Beth, one of the better students in the class. "What would you say the meaning of Christmas is?"

"Christmas is a commemoration of the birth of our lord and saviour Jesus Christ, the son of god, who was sent forth to bring joy and peace to the world." Though Beth's words held conviction, they sounded awfully recited to Weiss.

"Are you trying to convert me?" Weiss asked, folding her arms.

"You asked what the meaning of Christmas was," Beth replied. "I think we're losing sight of what it's truely about, because of all the commercialization and secularization of Christmas."

"Right, okay," Weiss said as politely as possible. It wasn't that she was anti-religious, she was just put off by Beth's fervor. She made a show of checking her watch. "I have to get to English."

* * *

Blake waited until second period to ask. She was hesitant, but knew Ruby expected her to do it, and didn't really want to lie to the girl. During a quiet point, she asked the girl next to her- Lisa was her name- what she thought Christmas was about.

"It's about taking a break and getting together with the people that are the most important to you," Lisa replied after a moment.

"So it's a social occasion?" Blake asked.

"You really did live under a rock, didn't you?" Her words didn't have malicious intent, but still stung Blake.

Fortunately, she was a master and not letting it show. "I guess. Christmas wasn't really an occasion for us."

"Well, for me it was always about getting together with friends and family," Lisa repeated. "Page 160."

"Huh?"

Lisa pointed at Blake's closed textbook. "The explanation is on page 160."

* * *

Yang also had mixed feelings about asking people what the meaning of Christmas was. It sounded so cheesy. She waited until the last minute, asking the boy sitting beside her in the last few minutes of pre-calculus.

"Psst," she hissed. "What do you do for Christmas?"

"I'm Jewish. I don't celebrate Christmas." He replied slightly sadly before smirking. "Just Boxing Day."

"Boxing day?" Yang asked with a mischievous grin. "Does that mean I get to punch people?"

"No, it's when there's big sales on everything," Seeing her confused expression, he added, "It was a joke- nevermind. Just ask someone else."

* * *

After school, the four of them met up again for the walk home. Ruby was, of course, the one to broach the question. "So, how did it go? I asked Jeff but he said it was just about getting free stuff."

"I got a religious spiel," Weiss said curtly.

Blake told them, "I was told it was about family and friends, getting together. Lisa did a bad job of explaining it, but I think the message was there."

"The only person I asked was Jewish," Yang said, shrugging.

"Why didn't you ask somebody else?" Ruby asked.

"Why didn't _you_?" There was a short but awkward silence.

"Oh well." Ruby shrugged after a moment. "We'll figure it out."


	2. Braving the storm

Not much to this one; pretty random and plotless. I said there wouldn't be much of a story this year, and I kind of meant it.

Can anyone figure out which mall it is?

I've never actually seen Frozen. That part is inspired mostly by Weiss Reacts.

I know crimsonette is not a real word, but I've seen it in a lot of RWBY fanfics. Given the greater variety in hair colour on Remnant, it's not inconceivable that Valic might contain some more words for them that aren't in English.

I will have a Christmas morning one for sure, so if you think you have good ideas for what they'd get for each other, send them in via PM or review.

* * *

**A Christmas Emerging**

**2: Braving the Storm**

"It's so busy..." Ruby remarked.

The four of them paused as they stepped out of the SkyTrain station. The crowd moved around them, streaming into the mall entrance. Even if it wasn't the middle of December, the place would still be busy. The Christmas shopping season only made it worse.

Blake took a step back. "I don't know, maybe we should go somewhere else."

"We can do this!" Ruby said resolutely. "I'll go with Weiss and Yang can go with Blake."

"Names, Ruby," Yang reminded her.

She dismissed it with a wave of her hand. "Eh, nobody's listening."

"I still don't understand why we're doing this," Weiss groused.

"Because that's what people do here!" she replied. "Besides, it sounds fun!"

Before anyone could object, she grabbed Weiss by the hand and started half-dragging her toward the mall entrance. About halfway, the heiress gave up and matched Ruby's pace, resigning herself to the crimsonette's antics.

* * *

"Look mommy, it's Elsa!" a young girl with pigtails shouted, pointing with one hand and tugging on her mother's sleeve with the other. Before anyone could do anything, she bolted off toward the Snow Queen.

"I am not- get off me!" Weiss screeched as the child latched onto her.

"Weiss, be careful!" Ruby shouted at Weiss, who started shaking her leg.

"Get it off! Get it off!" From the tone of her voice, you would have think some kind of alien creature, not a human child, had latched onto the heiress.

"Sally!" her harried mother shouted, trotting toward them. "Sally, let

"But it's Elsa!" the child whined, still attached to the pouting Schnee.

"I am not Elsa!" Weiss shrieked. "Do I look like Elsa?"

"Well, kind of," Ruby admitted. "And you can turn stuff to ice."

"I am so sorry," the woman apologized, pulling her child off of Weiss. She admonished her child. "Sally! What did I tell you about strangers?"

"But it's Elsa!" the girl repeated.

"I'm Weiss Sch- Anna Weiss," she introduced, regaining her composure. "It's, uh, probably my fault for braiding my hair."

Beside her, Ruby cringed at her terrible attempt at humility.

"See? It's not the princess," the mother explained to her child. "Frozen isn't real, baby. It's just a story. And stories don't show up in real life."

Weiss carefully kept her face impassive. Ruby coughed to cover up a giggle.

"I'm sorry about this," the mother apologized again to the angry heiress. "Come on, Sally, we have to get stocking stuffers for daddy."

"Well, that was weird," Ruby remarked before bursting out laughing.

"I did not enjoy that," Weiss snapped at her as they headed toward their next destination.

"Come on, Weiss, it was cute."

"No. Just no."

* * *

"You know, if it weren't for all the different names, you'd swear this was just another shopping mall in Vale," Yang commented as they walked through the Grand Court. She pointed at one of them. "Heh. Target. What a terrible name for a store."

"I've seen worse," Blake muttered.

"So, where should we go first?" Yang asked cheerfully.

"I want to buy some books," Blake replied after a moment. "But I think we walked past the bookstore on our way in, so maybe we can do that later.

"How about we try that store?" Yang suggested, pointing at Sears. "I think they have a bit of everything."

"Why are you so cheerful today?" Blake asked as they headed toward the store.

She replied offhand. "Christmas comes but once a year!"

Why did that sound so familiar- aha! "Isn't that from a song?"

Yang sighed as she slowed down. "Look, Blake, this time of year was pretty special to us back on Remnant. I know that Dad and Uncle Qrow and the rest of the family are a world away, but they'd want us to celebrate and enjoy it anyway, so that's what I'm trying to do."

"You know, Yang, you can be quite poignant when you're not trying," Blake muttered, following her toward the imposing Sears.

* * *

"I want to get a picture with Santa!"

Weiss cringed when she heard those words. She knew her partner was immature, but she didn't think she was _that_ childish.

"But I've never done it when I was little," Ruby replied sadly.

"Maybe that has something to do with living on another planet!" Weiss snapped, probably a bit too loud. A few people turned before quickly looking away.

Ruby pouted, and it only took a few seconds for her pleading eyes to wear down the heiress' resolve. She grabbed Ruby by the arm and pulled her toward the line. "Ugh, fine."

"Yay!" Ruby cheered. "Best partner ever!"

* * *

"Some of this stuff looks familiar," Yang commented, surveying the food court. "And some of it, not so much."

"It's busy," Blake commented quietly.

"Well, yeah, the whole place is busy," she replied. "So, what do you want? Tuna?"

Blake glared at her. "That's not funny."

Yang pushed, "But you _do_ like it."

"That has nothing to do with being a cat faunus," Blake snapped.

Yang couldn't tell if she was serious or not, so she backed off. "Okay, but seriously, I'm hungry, so I'm just going to get something."

"KFC," the raven-haired cat faunus replied after a moment of thought.

"KFC?" the blonde asked, surprised. "I always thought you were more of a salad kind of person."

"I was," she replied, shrugging. "But I need the calories."

Yang laughed. "That's one nice thing about Earth food. You can eat all you want and keep your trim figure."

* * *

Several hours after they'd entered the densely populated labyrinth, four tired teens emerged from it once again. They walked in empty handed, with fat wallets, and walked out burdened with bags and a lot less cash.

"I got a picture with Santa!" Ruby blurted out immediately. Then her shoulders slumped a little. "He thought I was weird."

Blake raised an eyebrow.

Yang laughed. "Aww, that's cute."

"So, did everyone get what they were looking for?" Ruby asked, ever the responsible team leader.

"For the last time, yes," Weiss hissed.

"Yep!" Yang replied loudly.

Blake just nodded.

"Hey, we didn't see you in the food court," Yang mentioned. "Did you have lunch?"

"Three poutines each," Weiss said with disapproval. "It was disgusting."

Ruby disagreed. "I liked it."

"So... we're done?" Blake asked.

"For this year, at least," Ruby replied. "Just as hectic as, well, you know-"

"Are we going?" Weiss asked, interrupting the thought.

"Yeah, let's go."


	3. Tree Time

I was expecting this to be shorter but it actually got fairly long.

I'm not sure if Ruby could really carry that tree- I have no idea what a real Christmas tree weighs.

* * *

**3: Tree Time**

Four figures trudged through the muddy trails of the forest, in search of their prize. It was dark and cold and frost was starting to form. They had ventured out toward the forest an hour ago, but just started to reach trees that looked remotely suitable. The shortest of them, a crimsonette in a matching jacket, idly swung around a small scythe.

"Why are we doing this?" the white-haired girl beside her asked. "We could have bought a ready-to-use artificial tree, with the lights and everything, and we wouldn't be-"

"But I don't want a fake tree!" the scythe-wielder whined.

"Is this even legal?" Weiss pressed.

"Probably not," Blake said.

Ruby dismissed it with a wave of her scythe. "I'm sure it's fine."

"Why did you bring a scythe, anyway?" Weiss said, pointing to the implement. "It's not exactly meant for cutting trees."

Yang shrugged. "Eh, she cuts down trees with Crescent Rose all the time. Sometimes it's even on purpose."

"Hey!"

Weiss shook her head, holding her temple with one gloved hand. "Fine, let's just grab a tree and get out of here."

Ruby zipped over to a tree that she thought looked good. "How about this one?"

The ice heiress shook her head. "No. That one's asymmetrical."

She zipped over to another one and shook it, showering herself in needles. "Okay, not this one."

"How about that one?" Yang suggested, pointing to a straight, full spruce tree about 2.4 metres, or just under eight feet, high.

Ruby went over and shook it. Only a few needles came off. "It seems to be okay."

"I don't know," Weiss objected. "Isn't it a little too big? Or a lot too big?"

Blake just shrugged, half-frozen even though she was well bundled up. "I don't really have an opinion on it."

Before there could be any more argument, Ruby took her scythe and swung it through the base of the tree- or tried to. It made it about halfway before getting stuck.

"Now look what you've done," Weiss snapped as Ruby tried to tug the implement free.

"Here, I've got it," Yang told her sister, grabbing a hold of the scythe handle. She gave it a hard tug and the handle came free with a satisfying snap. The satisfaction only lasted for a moment before she realized she'd separated the head from the handle.

"You two are idiots," Weiss snapped at them, disappointed both at her teammates and because she kind of wanted that tree.

"Here," Blake offered, handing her a hatchet.

Weiss took it. "At least someone knows what they're doing."

She stepped forward, hatchet in hand, and swung just above the stuck scythe. Very quickly, however, she found that the hatchet was much too small for the tree. She also found that she had no idea how to use the axe, having never done anything like it in her life.

"You need a little help there, Weiss?" Yang asked, laughing at her poor technique.

"Shut up!" she shouted back. "I've got it!"

Two more rough hacks later, the tree shook and started to fall. Unfortunately, the heiress hadn't thought of where the tree would fall when it came free, and it fell directly toward her.

In a flash of rose petals, Ruby zoomed in to catch the tree and save her teammate, only to slip on the frosty ground and land on top of her. The tree continued to fall and landed right on top of them.

As the heiress attempted to protest beneath her, Ruby pushed the tree up and to her right, rolling it off of them. She hopped to her feet and extended her hand to Weiss.

"I hate you so much right now," the heiress snapped, taking the offered hand anyway.

"So... is the tree okay?" Yang asked, trying and failing not to laugh.

"It's good enough. Let's just take it and go," Weiss fumed.

"Come on, that was fun!" Ruby argued, picking up the tree and hefting it over her shoulder.

"No, no it wasn't... okay, maybe a little bit."


	4. DECORATE

More fluff. Yes, I know fluff coming from me is just strange. You expect action and drama and revelations and insight and stuff.

I don't expect anyone to get what the title is referencing.

* * *

**A Christmas Emerging**

**4: DECORATE**

"Okay, Blake, the tree is up, let's start decorating!" Ruby exclaimed excitedly. She dropped another box full of decorations next to the tree.

"Where did you get those decorations?" Blake asked.

"Oh, me and Yang bought a bunch yesterday, plus we got some from Sam and his friends and the guys across the street," she replied dismissively. "So we should have enough to make the best tree we've ever made!"

"This is the first time we've put up a Christmas tree, Ruby," Blake pointed out.

"Yeah, so?"

Blake sighed. "Do you have any idea how to decorate a tree?"

"Not really, but I asked Ben and he gave me some advice," the crimsonette replied, opening one of the boxes. She pulled out four smaller boxes and shoved them into Blake's arms. "Lights first!"

"Lights?" Blake asked as Ruby took one of the boxes back.

Ruby opened the box and pulled out a long string of small multicolored lights, all wired together. "Lights!"

"And these go on the tree?" Blake asked, opening another box and skeptically inspecting the clear, glued-on bulbs.

"And these go on the tree!" Ruby replied excitedly, haphazardly wrapping the chain of lights around the tree. She grabbed another box and tore it open. "Come on Blake, put yours up!"

"Okay." Blake carefully unrolled her string of lights, surveying the tree. The younger girl had put up one string already and was already starting her second. There was no logic to the way she threw it around the tree, and there was no way Blake could follow on and make it look good.

She settled for wrapping her string around the middle of the tree in a distinctive band. By the time she had it arranged, Ruby was already done the lights.

Ruby held out a pair of plastic tubs. "Garlands? Or ornaments?"

The cat faunus pondered it for a moment. One one hand, Ruby would almost certainly make a mess with the garlands. On the other hand, several of the ornaments looked breakable. "I'll do the ornaments."

Blake cringed when Ruby dropped the box of ornaments at her feet with an ominous crash. Thankfully, most of the ornaments in the bin were still in there packaging. She decided to start with the balls and pulled them out of their plastic tubes.

Ruby eagerly started throwing on the garlands. They had eight long, fluffy strings of tinsel; two red, two whitish silver, two a deep purple-black, and two yellow-gold. She threw them on haphazardly, snapping them and tearing sections of tinsel on as she strangled the tree with the fluffy cords.

To Blake's horror, as soon as she was done- within a minute of starting- she started digging through the ornaments and helping. Blake was meticulous and careful with how she handled and placed the ornaments, but Ruby treated the ornaments with the same reckless abandon that she treated the garlands with.

"Uh, Ruby, you should probably be more careful with those," Blake said to no response. She quickly gathered up the most breakable looking ornaments and stacked them in the ball tube, intent on doing those herself.

"You're so slow, Blake," Ruby complained after throwing the last contents of a box of painted wooden ornaments from the now defunct Zellers onto their tree.

"I'm trying not to break them," Blake replied honestly.

"They'll be fine," Ruby dismissed. She hopped off the couch and stepped back. "Oh! We need to plug it in!"

She went back to the boxes of decorations and pulled out a tangled web of extension cords. She grabbed one and pulled, and it came free, minus the other end. "Oops."

"Let me get that," Blake told her. She took the ball and had three usable extension cords out of it in seconds. They took the cords and plugged in the lights, lighting up the tree.

"Are we finished?" Ruby asked.

"I don't know..." Blake replied. The tree had too many lights, too many ornaments, and too many garlands, but it still felt like it was missing something. "I feel like it's missing something."

"Yeah..." Ruby replied reticently. "Oh! The star!"

"At the top?" Blake asked.

"Yeah!" Ruby tore a plastic star out of its box and climbed up onto the couch again. She leaned over and managed to get it on top of the tree, teetering and almost falling.

"Maybe you should have-" Blake began, but was interrupted by having to catch the power adaptor Ruby threw at her. She plugged it in.

Ruby smirked triumphantly. "Now it's done."


	5. DECORAT2

This was originally going to be one chapter along with the previous one but I got lazy.

* * *

**A Christmas Emerging**

**5: DECORAT2**

While Ruby and Blake attempted to decorate the tree, the other two members of the team stood outside, hauling out the last boxes of outdoor decorations.

"Why do I have to be out here?" Weiss complained. "I thought you were going to do it with Blake."

Yang shrugged, "She said she doesn't like the cold."

"It's not cold," Weiss snapped.

"That's what I told her, too," Yang replied.

"Well, it's not that cold," Weiss grumbled. "She's your partner. I would much rather be inside decorating the tree with Ruby."

Yang raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Do I sense a bit of jealousy."

"Sh-shut up! It's not like that."

Yang laughed. "Come on, Weiss, I was just joking." She quickly added, "But if you do, I would rather have her dating you than some asshole."

Weiss turned red in the face and failed to sputter out a response. She finally managed something that had very little to do with her actual concern. "You swore!"

"You pick it up." The blonde shrugged. "Are you going to help me onto the roof, or not?"

"Why don't you use a ladder?" the still-flustered heiress snapped.

"The ladder's over there," she replied, motioning toward the garage. "I don't want to go back over there. Just give me a boost."

"I'm not using my Glyphs in a crowded neighbourhood."

"I didn't say anything about Glyphs."

"You have got to be kidding me," Weiss grumbled as she gave the taller, heavier girl a push onto the roof. She felt the weight go off her hands as Yang grabbed on, then with a crash she fell back onto Weiss. She wasn't prepared to take the weight and they both ended up on the ground.

Yang held out a broken piece of gutter in her gloved hand. "Oops."

"You idiot! You snapped the gutter right off!" the heiress shrieked.

"Only the front edge!" the blonde retorted "I didn't expect it to let go!"

"Let's just get the ladder and get this done."

* * *

"Are there any more of the big lights?" Yang called from the roof.

"Wait a second!" Weiss called. "I'm not done with the penguin. The stupid thing won't inflate!"

"Are you sure you set it up right?"

"Yes!" the heiress snapped. There was a pause, followed by an awkward, "No." A few seconds later, the penguin began to inflate.

"Can I have my lights now?" the blonde called again.

"Here!" A box went sailing over the roof and she caught it out of the air.

* * *

"Hmm..."

"You've been sitting there for a while now," Weiss pointed out. "Wait..."

The blonde looked up. "What?"

"You didn't think about how to plug it in, did you?" Weiss asked.

"Uh... we're going to need a lot of extension cords?"

The two of them stepped back and surveyed their handiwork. It had taken a long time, but they were finally finished.

Yang said slowly. "So... we're done."

"That's a disaster," Weiss criticized.

Yang disagreed. "It looks nice."

"It's a fire hazard."

"It's not that bad."

Weiss huffed and stalked toward the door. "Whatever. I'm going inside."


	6. Movie Madness

I was going to do one where they wrap presents, but I just couldn't figure out a way to make it interesting.

I was planning to do two movie chapters, but this one took so long I don't think I'm going to do it again.

Still need gift ideas!

* * *

**A Christmas Emerging**

**6: Movie Madness**

"I don't think this is a Christmas movie," Blake said, looking at the title card. It showed a building with an explosion, a bit of city backdrop, a helicopter, and what looked like a man's shocked face.

"Sam said it was a Christmas movie," Yang replied with a shrug.

Blake's bow twitched. "Do you trust him?"

Another shrug. "Well, I don't know what a Christmas movie is supposed to be."

"Ruby, the popcorn is flying everywhere!" they heard Weiss shout from the kitchen. "Are you even going to clean that?"

"After the movie!" Ruby replied, leaving the kitchen with an oversized bowl of popcorn and an annoyed Weiss.

She set the bowl on the table and sat down beside the heiress before turning to her sister. "Did you pick one yet?"

"Yeah, Sam recommended this one," Yang told her. "It's called Die Hard."

* * *

"So, that's the main guy?" Ruby asked as John McClane lounged in Holly's office. "He looks like Spruce Willis."

"He's played by Bruce Willis," Yang told her, smirking at the coincidence. "Except this is an old movie so he's probably pretty old now."

"That's a funny coincidence," the crimsonette laughed.

Blake pointed out, "Our existence is entirely based on coincidence."

"So that's his wife, they're divorced, they still love each other but they're angry at each other," Weiss surmised. "He gets invited to the holiday party and they deal with their issues and by the end of the movie they'll be happily together again."

She made a _hmmf_ noise. "It's a stupid sappy romantic comedy. I've seen them before-"

"Shooting!" Ruby shouted excitedly. She didn't really want to see a yucky romance movie, even if it was traditional on this planet, but she did like action movie.

"Well, that was unexpected," Weiss admitted. _Maybe this movie will be tolerable after all._

* * *

"That escalated quickly," Weiss muttered. The terrorists were now crashing the party, shouting and firing their guns into the air.

"I don't get it," Ruby said. "It's not like they're very good fighters. Why hasn't anyone stopped them?"

Blake reminded her, "Earth, remember?"

"Right," Ruby acknowledged, a bit embarrassed.

"So they want the president of the company," Yang muttered. "Are they going to take him hostage for money?"

Blake shook her head. "Maybe, but I think there's more to it than that."

"You're the expert, Blakey."

She glared at her.

* * *

"Gah!" Ruby shouted, jumping back toward the heiress.

"Get off me!" she shouted.

"I wasn't expecting him to actually shoot the Chinese guy!" Ruby said quickly. "He seemed like a nice guy- evil, maybe, but kind of nice about it."

Blake shook her head. "It's a guise, a ruse. To put his enemies at ease, to get them to lower their defenses. He's cutthroat, ruthless, maybe even a sociopath. I've met people like that."

"Well, that got heavy fast," Yang said, trying not to think of her brief adventure in Syria.

"Why does he do so much hiding," Ruby complained, watching McClane run away on screen. "Why doesn't he just go in and shoot them!"

"Because it's not a viable strategy," Blake informed.

"I would go in shooting."

"You also swing a sniper scythe longer than you are," Weiss pointed out.

Ruby was confused. "So?"

"Just watch the movie," the heiress snapped. She was actually enjoying it... slightly.

* * *

They watched as McClane shouted at window to "turn the fucking truck around" after he pulled the fire alarm and the fire trucks showed up before turning off their lights and leaving.

"This is before cell phones, right?" Yang asked.

"I think so," her sister told her. "They've only been common for twenty years or something here."

"Okay."

* * *

One of the bad guys appeared, wearing ugly grey athletic wear and accompanied by ominous music. Ruby immediately jumped out of her seat. "Shoot him!"

"Ruby!" Weiss admonished.

"Sorry," she apologized, sitting down. She watched as McClane snuck up on the henchman and put a gun to his head before grabbing him and wrestling, the bad guy's gun going off in the fight.

"Well, that was anticlimatic," Yang grumbled when the fight ended with McClane falling on top of the other guy and presumably killing him at the bottom of a staircase. "Lame, even."

"It's _anticlimactic_, and yes," Weiss agreed.

"I'm pretty sure it's accurate, though," Blake muttered. She was actually enjoying what she perceived as gritty realism.

"It's lame," the crimsonette team leader groused.

Yang shrugged. "Sam said it's good. Maybe it'll get better."

* * *

"How dare you try and save people," Ruby repeated, doing a terrible impression of Ellis. "He's going to get us all killed. Wait..."

"What?" Weiss snapped.

"There's a lot more hostages than terrorists," Ruby explained.

"The terrorists have guns," Blake pointed out.

"So?"

"In a world where one shot is one kill..." Yang said distantly.

"True," Weiss agreed.

Blake disagreed. "It's not just that. The terrorists- if that's what they are- have put themselves in a position of power over the hostages. They've convinced them of that power hierarchy-"

"Boring!" Ruby complained, her attention now completely devoted to the shot of McClane on the roof. On the screen, the policeman pulled out a radio and put out a cop for help.

"Wait... he's calling for help and they're ignoring him?" Weiss asked, confused.

"Maybe they get more prank calls than legitimate problems," Blake reasoned. "Still, it seems a little callous, even for this world."

"Guys, I'm watching this!" Ruby shouted. Now that there was action, she really wanted to see it.

* * *

"Wait, so he just randomly went down a vent shaft?" Weiss shrieked. "Did he even know where that shaft went?"

Yang had a different question. "Can a Terran actually do that without getting seriously hurt?"

"I'll admit this is stretching my willing suspension of disbelief," Blake opined.

"Guys," Ruby whined, although she had heard and did understand their concerns.

* * *

"Just shoot him!" Ruby shouted at the screen. In the movie, McClane was shouting at one of the men to put his gun down.

"Blake," Yang whispered to her partner. "Are you a bit concerned about Ruby?"

Blake looked at their team leader, who was leaning on the edge of the couch and stuffing her face with popcorn with one hand. "Not really."

"But she loves the violence so much."

The cat faunus raised an eyebrow. "We come from a violent world."

Yang couldn't argue with that. "True. I'm just worried she's going to turn into some kind of blood rose."

"You're her big sister," Blake reassured her. "It's your duty to be concerned."

And she was concerned when Ruby smirked as McClane shot the other bad guy through the table.

* * *

"So, the police are here, and McClane has told them everything he knows," Weiss summarized. "Why are they just sitting there?"

"Maybe they don't have a proper response team," Blake suggested.

"I thought they were careful, even paranoid about this kind of thing."

Blake shook her head. "If I understand my history correctly, not until long after this movie was made."

"I don't get it," Ruby complained. "Why do the bad guys want the police?"

"It's a complex plan," Blake told her. "Remember what Cinder Fall tried to... is trying to... is going to... maybe is trying to try to do?"

"Ohh..."

* * *

"Finally, the police are doing something," Yang said to nobody in particular. On the screen, a group of black-clad policemen with assault rifles were moving to enter the building.

"Why are they only four of them?" Weiss asked.

"Maybe it's standard here too," Ruby guessed. "But they should be shooting back-"

"THE DOORS ARE GLASS!" Yang shouted at the idiots on the screen. "I could punch through those with my BARE FISTS!"

"You've punched through concrete with your bare fists," Blake reminded her. "But they could use a blowing charge."

"Breaching charge," Ruby corrected.

"Oh, they have an armored car," Weiss remarked with a sarcastic edge in her voice. "That must be very useful for assaulting a skyscraper."

"Wow," Yang said, dumbfounded. "They literally could have just shot through the glass."

Ruby commented, "But what about the- oh, they have a missile launcher. I want a missile launcher!"

On the screen, the police vehicle approached the building and got stuck on the stairs. Predictably, the bad guys hit it with a missile and blew it to pieces.

"So much for gritty realism," Blake groused.

* * *

"This guy is an idiot," Blake concluded when Ellis started to negotiate with a very sarcastic Hans Gruber.

Ruby asked, "What's a camel jockey?"

At almost the same time, Weiss asked, "What's a Hebe?"

"They're racist terms for Arab and Jewish people, respectively," Blake replied instantly.

"Oh. Oops. Sorry," Ruby said, embarrassed. Weiss offered no apology.

"He's an idiot," Weiss added when Ellis started talking to McClane over the radio.

"Yeah, something bad is going to happen," Ruby guessed.

A few minutes later, on screen, Hans shot Ellis, shocking them into stunned silence.

Yang broke the silence. "Well, I _was_ expecting that."

* * *

"Shoot him, he's the bad guy!" Ruby shouted at the flatscreen television. McClane had cornered Hans, but Hans was pretending he was a hostage that escaped and McClane didn't know who he was.

"Wow, he's really beat up," Yang mentioned, motioning to the current shot of McClane's back. "Look at all the blood."

"And he has no shoes," Blake added. "I wonder if its symbolic?"

A few seconds later, Ruby shouted, "WHY ARE YOU GIVING HIM A GUN!"

"Hmm, I think he knows who Hans is," Blake told her. "I think he's testing him."

They watched in horror as McClane handed Hans a gun and turned his back, before the terrorist levelled his weapon on the policeman. All, except Blake.

McClane goaded him and he tried to shoot, but the gun was empty. The cat faunus smirked slightly. "And I was right. This movie is disappointingly predictable."

* * *

"Can we skip this scene?" Ruby pleaded, looking slightly green. Weiss looked unimpressed as her partner clung on to her. "It's so gross."

Yang just stared straight ahead, with the thousand yard stare of a shell-shocked veteran. Blake was more comfortable with it, and focused on soothing her teammate.

The scene in question was John McClane pulling bits of glass out of his feet, with all the blood and gore that would accompany such an operation. The heartfelt dialogue was entirely lost to the two sisters, but the monochrome members of the team at least tried to listen.

* * *

After half a movie of trying, the bad guys had finally broken into the vault after the FBI shut off the power. Accompanied by victorious music, they moved in, grabbing the bonds and shoving them into large duffle bags.

"Why do they want the money so bad if they're terrorists?" Ruby asked. "I thought terrorists fight for a cause, not money."

"They need it for funding," Weiss told her. "So they can carry out acts of terrorism."

Blake shook her head. "No. It's not right. It's pretty clear that they're not terrorists- just thieves."

* * *

"Kill him, John!" Ruby shouted anxiously at the screen. "Kill him!"

John McClane was currently locked in mortal combat with Karl. It was, as Karl had said, personal, and it was brutal and savage.

"Can a Terran take that kind of abuse?" Weiss asked as Karl savagely kicked McClane in the head.

Yang shook her head. "No. No, they can't."

"It's not really that realistic," Blake added, disappointed. "Even though the people in this movie are so much weaker than us, they're still a lot stronger than real Terrans."

* * *

"Is he crazy?" Weiss shouted as McClane jumped off the roof, held only by a makeshift fire-hose tether.

"Even I don't think this is a good idea," Blake mentioned quietly. "And I've done something similar."

"Yeah, but you're like a ninja Blake," Yang told her. "You have catlike reflexes."

Blake glared at her. "God damn it Yang!"

* * *

"This is it!" Ruby commented excitedly. "Get him, John!"

In the movie, John McClane shouted at Hans, stumbling forward with gun in hand.

"I think he's got something a little more clever planned," Blake told her, shaking her head.

"I've heard of John Wayne, but who's Grace Kelly?" Yang asked, confused. "Who's Gary Cooper?"

"Yippee ki yay, motherfucker," Ruby repeated quietly.

"Ruby!" Yang admonished.

Ruby shrugged and said, "I just don't get why it's so funny."

"I told you," Blake said smugly when McClane pulled the gun from behind his back and shot both of the bad guys.

* * *

"So, what did you think?" Blake asked as the credits rolled.

"Well, I wasn't wrong," Weiss told her. "Divorced couple meets again, deals with their issues, and they're happy and together again by the end of the movie. I was expecting a stupid romantic comedy, not a stupid action movie."

"It was awesome!" Ruby shouted.

Yang was more hesitant, but still positive. "Could be better, but it was pretty good as far as Earth action movies go."

After a pause, she asked, "What did you think, Blake?"

The cat faunus thought about it for a moment. "I was hoping at first for a sappy Christmas story, then when I saw what it was, a gritty realistic action movie. Instead, it turned out to be full of cliches, plot holes, and writer fiat. But... it was still entertaining. And I suppose that's what matters most in a movie."

"So deep, Blake, so deep."


	7. On The Eve

I may have gotten lazy. I thought about doing a dedicated cookie-baking chapter but decided to fold it into this one.

But tomorrow's finale will have more to it.

* * *

**A Christmas Emerging**

**7: On The Eve**

"Weiss!" Ruby whined. "We need to make cookies!"

The heiress crossed her arms. "We've already made cookies."

"But I want more cookies," she pleaded, an irresistible begging look in her eyes.

"Ugh. Fine. We can make cookies."

"Yay!" Ruby shouted, zipping over and pulling Weiss into a tight hug. "You're the best teammate ever!"

"Get off me, you dolt," Weiss snapped, prying the crimsonette off. "Just... get the flour!"

* * *

"Are you just going to read that all day?" Yang asked.

"I don't see why not," Blake replied, shrugging.

The blonde sat down beside her teammate. "Whatcha reading, Blake?"

She held out the book, cover toward Yang. "Long Walk to Freedom."

"That doesn't look like a smut novel," the blonde remarked, earning a glare from her raven-haired partner. "What's it about."

"It's nonfiction," she replied, putting the book down. "It's about Nelson Mandela and apartheid in South Africa."

"That's where they separated the black people from the white people and oppressed them, right?" Yang asked.

Blake nodded. "That's right."

"That's pretty heavy for Christmas Eve."

"It's funny, isn't it," Blake remarked. "I'm horrified by it, but I keep coming back to it- all the stories of discrimination and hate. A world away and now I want to learn instead of escape. It's like some sort of morbid curiosity."

"Well, that makes two of us, then," Yang told her, pulling a book out of her pocket. "Stories from the Iraq War."

"Not exactly Christmas Eve reading, is it?" Blake echoed with a laugh.

* * *

"So... big day tomorrow," Yang said, broaching the subject as they lounged around. The news was blaring in the background, but nobody was listening.

"Yeah," Ruby agreed. "I hope we have everything right. Do we have the lights? The cookies? The presents-"

"Stop," Weiss snapped. "Do you think you have everything right?"

"I think so, but I'm not-"

"If you worry about getting everything perfect, you won't be able to relax and have fun," she told her partner.

"I thought you would be the most uppity about it, Weiss," Ruby said, surprised.

The heiress shook her head. "Once upon a time, Ruby. But I'm not the Schnee heiress here, I don't have to be perfect anymore."

"In a way, we've all escaped our pasts here, yet we haven't," Blake tried to explain, grasping her mug of hot chocolate. "We feel liberated, yet burdened."

"Well, that got heavy fast," Yang interrupted. "But we do have everything, right?"

"I think so- wait, no!" Ruby zipped out of the living room. They heard some crashing and bashing before she came out again.

"What did you do?" Weiss asked critically.

"I put out milk and cookies for Santa."

They shared an awkward look. Finally, Blake told her, "You know Santa's not real, right?"

Ruby nodded. "I know, but everyone does it."

"But who's going to eat it?"

Ruby smirked. "I like cookies."


	8. CHRISTMAS!

And the grand finale! It might be a bit disappointing; with a story like this, it's hard to end it.

I'll admit I got a little uncreative with the gifts. I have no idea what you'd get for teenaged girls from another planet. I also may have been a bit more shipteasy than usual.

This is the end of this side story, but more Asides are coming and the next part of Emergence is still on track for a New Years release.

* * *

**A Christmas Emerging**

**8: CHRISTMAS!**

"Wake up!" Ruby shouted at the top of her lungs, shocking the rest of her team into wakefulness.

"Ruby, it's," Weiss muttered, checking her clock. "Seven in the morning."

"It's Christmas!" Ruby shouted excitedly. "Get up, Weiss!"

Reluctantly, Weiss stepped out of bed. Although she could function when she had to, she was not a morning person. Blake obviously was a morning person, already out of bed and standing beside her team leader. Yang had rolled over and put the pillow over her head.

"Yang, get up!" Ruby whined at her sister, pulling the pillow off. "Come on, get up!"

The blonde mumbled something and pulled the pillow back. Ruby pulled it off again and with surprising strength, pulled her sister out of bed. Yang muttered, "I'm awake, I'm awake," rubbing the sleepiness from her eyes.

By the time she figured out where she was, Ruby was already gone, racing into the living room. Blake shrugged and the three of them followed into the living room.

"Santa came!" Ruby shouted excitedly, showing them the empty glass and clean plate.

"I saw you eat those," Weiss told her. "You're not stealthy."

Ruby put down the plate and asked sadly, "Did I wake you up?"

"It's fine. Let's just have fun today."

"Okay!" Ruby put on a conveniently placed Santa hat and tossed each of her teammates their stockings.

"Stockings first?" Blake asked. Ruby nodded. "Okay."

They distributed the four coloured stockings- red for Ruby, white for Weiss, black for Blake and yellow for Yang. Then they started opening presents. Ruby ripped in quickly, Yang was only a step behind, while Weiss and Blake moved more slowly and methodically.

Blake was the first to comment on what she got. "A ball of yarn? Really, Yang, really?"

"How'd you know it was me?" She couldn't tell if her partner's surprise was fake or not.

Weiss told her, "Only you would make such a tasteless joke."

She turned to her own partner and her pile of cookies, chocolate, and candy, "Is that all junk food?"

"You contributed too, Weiss," Yang pointed out. Beside her were a few choclate bars, a can of barbecue Pringles, a pair of yellow socks and a lighter engraved with her emblem.

"I'll have you know that I only bought the Aero and the keychain." She folded her arms.

"What did you get?" Ruby asked, ignoring her and leaning over her shoulder to look at her pile. Weiss had less candy, but there was a book and a pair of earrings among the pile. "The earrings was me! Do you like them?"

"Yes, Ruby, they're lovely," she half-lied. Weiss liked the _look_ of them, but not the $24.99 price tag that was still attached.

"Blake, you've been awfully quiet," Yang commented. "You're not still made about the ball of yarn, are you?"

"Huh? No." Her partner was reading the back of a blu-ray case. Beside her was another movie and a book along with a bag of hard candies and another hat.

"Yeah, that one was me, too," the blonde said, pointing to the case she was reading. "I saw you reading the book, and I figured-"

"Present time!" Ruby shouted, dropping a box on each of her teammates. While they had been talking, she had been pulling from under the tree, looking for a specific set which she quickly found.

"This is surprisingly thoughtful," Blake said after opening her box. "I was expecting more merchandise."

"Hey, they know us," Yang told her. "Scarily well, actually."

"From Gemstone," Ruby announced, setting another, smaller box on the coffee table. She dumped out the contents- a lot of wrapping, several gift cards, and card that said "Sorry" on it.

"Well, they should be," Weiss huffed.

"They're busy, Weiss," Yang told her. "You know, doing all that top secret spy stuff. At least they got us something."

They continued through the pile of presents, which gradually thinned out at they opened gifts and shoved the unwrapped contents wherever they would fit. They unwrapped books and movies from their friends, a box of chocolates with a label that had fallen off, a second pair of headphones for Ruby, and even a CD with Christmas songs before getting to the bottom of the pile.

"This one's from me!" Ruby shouted excitedly, shoving a poorly-wrapped box into Weiss' arms. "Open it, Weiss! Open it!"

The heiress complied reluctantly, prying through the layers of tape and removing the wrapping from the box underneath. She opened the box and shook it, and two rings fell out. "What is this?"

"They're friendship rings!" Ruby pointed out excitedly. "I got the idea from a story I read on the internet."

"Really, Ruby?" Weiss asked, putting one of them on anyway. She didn't want to hurt the crimsonette's feelings, after all.

"Well, that was a thing," Yang said, her tone a mix of elation and disappointment.

"Christmas isn't about the presents," Ruby told her team. "We've got nothing to do today, so let's relax and have fun."

* * *

"Hey, we've got Christmas cards!" Yang shouted, waving the items above her head as she came in from the outside.

"Oh, no!" Ruby panicked, standing up and nearly knocking her hot chocolate off the coffee table. "We didn't write any!"

"I'm sure they'll understand," Weiss told her. "We're from another planet, after all."

"Who sent them?" Blake asked. After a moment, she dismissed it with a wave. "Nevermind. Let's just open them."

Yang joined them in the living room, placing the stack of cards on the table. "Rubes?"

The team leader nodded and picked one off the stack. "This one's from Ben and Jen."

She tore it open, revealing an index card with a few words in bold black sharpie scrawled on the inside. "_Check your email_. I guess they sent us a virtual card."

"This one looks nice," Weiss commented, opening a light blue envelope. Inside was a store-bought Hallmark card with some pencil scribblings inside. "From the guys across the street. Have a great Christmas. Don't feel too bad about keeping us here, we're having our own Christmas anyway."

"Aww," Ruby said, a mixture of sympathy and sadness. She picked the next one off the pile and opened it, revealing three cards inside. "From the other guys, I think."

"Well, read them," Weiss said impatiently.

"This one is from Isaac," Ruby said, showing the first one. "I can't read his writing."

She took the next one, which was a store-bought card. "It's from Cliff, but he didn't write anything in it."

The last one was readable. "Merry Christmas, Sam."

"I get the feeling they don't send a lot of Christmas cards," Blake offered.

"Well, they tried," Ruby allowed.

"This one looks really official," Yang said, taking an embossed envelope. She tore it open and pulled out a card, smiling when she opened it.

"What's so funny?" her partner asked.

She turned the card around and showed everyone the various messages and names scrawled inside. "It's from the Gemstone guys. I guess they had to use the fancy card but they still wanted to make it personal."

"Last one," Ruby said, holding up an envelope which she quickly tore open. It was a commercial-quality, full-color card, but the logo and images plastered all over it gave it away as custom. She opened it, revealing a large group photo and several scrawled messages.

"Gotta love Monty's signature," Yang commented, pointing at one of the scribbles.

"Well, that was... nice," Weiss remarked, getting a chorus of nods and verbal agreement.

* * *

"That's a pretty fancy dinner," Yang remarked as she surveyed the dinner table. Beside her, Weiss resisted the urge to snort.

"It's turkey!" Ruby exclaimed. "This is traditional for Earth."

Weiss inspected the cooked bird. "I'm pretty sure you're supposed to roast it, not buy it from Superstore."

"I didn't buy it from Superstore," Ruby pouted.

She looked skeptical. "Oh, really?"

"No, I bought it from IGA!" Yang told her. The sisters shared a laugh, and Weiss facepalmed.

The heiress surveyed the spread. Pre-cooked turkey was flanked by microwaved frozen vegetables, gloopy gravy made from powdered mix, and bakeoff rolls.

"Come on, Weiss, you've been eating crappy food for months, this is a step up!" Ruby tried to be positive, but looked sad and disappointed.

Weiss didn't notice. "That didn't pretend to be good food. This is a mockery of good food."

"It's really not that bad, Weiss," Blake told her. She didn't notice.

"But Weiss..." Ruby whined, once again using the irresistible eyes on her partner.

"Alright, fine," she sighed, sitting down beside the crimsonette.

Ruby shrugged and said, "Okay, then let's eat!"

She dug in immediately, piling her plate high with turkey and vegetables covered with gravy, then grabbing several rolls out of the basket. Yang did the same, except her plate was even more full. Blake was more restrained but still had a good amount of food.

Weiss was hesitant, but resigned herself to at least trying to appreciate the facsimile of a proper dinner. She took a few slices of turkey, inelegantly dumped gravy on it, and added a single roll and a spoonful of vegetables.

To her surprise, the food, while far from good, was well within the range of tolerable, and even _okay_. Besides, the special dinner wasn't really about the food. Not everything had to be perfect.

* * *

"Well, that was fun," Yang said to nobody in particular as they settled down for the night. "Still, it's over, after all that buildup..."

"It's not an unfamiliar feeling," Blake admitted. "One that will probably return often in the future."

"But did you like it?"

"Yes," Blake answered simply.

"Rubes?"

"Well, I had fun. Did you enjoy it, Weiss?" Ruby asked her partner, sitting on the side of her bed.

"It wasn't perfect," Weiss admitted. She quickly

"Okay, goodnight." With that, Ruby flopped over and fell asleep. Of course, she was still on her partner's bed, and landed right beside Weiss.

"Goodnight," Weiss whispered to her partner.

The other two members of Team RWBY struggled not to laugh at the sleeping girl and the flustered but smiling heiress.

"Should we do something?" Blake asked finally.

Yang grinned lecherously, moving to her partner's bed. "Do you wanna be the big spoon or the little spoon?"

"Yang!" Blake hissed, shocked. "I meant about _that_!" She motioned to Ruby and Weiss.

"I'm just kidding." She leaned in close and whispered, "Or am I?"

"Goodnight," Blake hissed again, shutting off the lights.

**END**


End file.
